NCI Acrylonitrile Cohort

The NCI Acrylonitrile Cohort is a study of 25,460 workers employed at eight facilities that produce or use acrylonitrile in the United States. Follow-up of this cohort through 1989 found no elevated risk for any cancer, but there was an excess for lung cancer in the highest quintile of cumulative exposure more than 20 years after first exposure. The NCI cohort is the largest study to date, with the most detailed exposure assessment. Currently, the mortality experience of the cohort is being extended an additional 20 years to re-evaluate the association between acrylonitrile exposure and cancer mortality, as well as other health outcomes.